Impact of Harrisburg financial crisis: Workers who earn their living in the city

View full sizeCHRIS KNIGHT, The Patriot-News, fileSome 20,000 state employees commute into the city to earn their living.

Each weekday, Harrisburg’s population more than doubles with the influx of 50,000-plus commuters, including some 20,000 state employees, who earn their living in the city.

To cash-strapped Harrisburg, the thousands who travel its roads, park in its streets and garages, and enjoy its parks, police and fire protection during the workday must seem like one ripe revenue bull’s-eye.

After Harrisburg residents and those who own property or businesses there, these commuters have the next biggest financial stake in the city. Their paychecks are tethered to Harrisburg, and the city might try to pry open their wallets as part of its financial fix.

One of the debt-reducing remedies in play involves leasing Harrisburg’s public parking garages and even its street meters to a private operator, in return for more than $200 million of up-front cash.

This financial infusion would allow Harrisburg to pay down debts and afford it some budget breathing room. But it likely would lead to higher parking rates, especially for workday commuters who must stow their vehicles during peak daytime hours.

Provisions allow distressed municipalities to levy what would essentially be a wage tax on those who work within its borders. This would be on top of the annual $52 municipal services tax workers already pay.

However, David Black, president and CEO of the Harrisburg Regional Chamber, said Act 47 strictly limits how much Harrisburg could tax those who work in the city — and for how long. What’s more, a wage tax could only be added as part of a larger, state-approved financial recovery plan.

“That would involve having a clear path and a defined plan to work out of this mess. At this point in time, we’re light years from that,” he said.

Even then, Harrisburg might want to think twice before heaping more taxes on the backs of those who work there.

Philadelphia’s notorious wage tax, once well over 4 percent but since lowered to about 3.5 percent for commuters, helped push out jobs and development. Just across the city line, places like Conshohocken and southern Bucks County reaped the spoils in the form of bustling malls and brimming office complexes.

Workday warriors could pay for Harrisburg’s financial crisis in other ways.

If the debt dilemma erodes city services, incoming workers might face bumpier rides on pock-marked streets and virtual gridlock should depleted road crews get snowed under. They could encounter trashier sidewalks, and they might see longer waits for police and fire officials in emergencies.

Either way, there’ll likely be a price.

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